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109
INQUESTS.
One hundred and fifty six inquests, 121 in the Town subdistrict,
and 35 in Brompton, were held in the year, the subjects
being males 80, and females 76 ; 71 were under 5 years of age,
including 47 less than a year old, and 23 were persons aged
60 and upwards : the cause of death in 114 instances was ascertained
by post-mortem examination.
The Violent Deaths were 66, of which 20 belong to the
Brompton sub-district. The causes of sixty-two of these
deaths are given below ; in other four cases there was no
inquest, the causes of death being (1) injury during birth ;
(2) hemorrhage after birth ; (3) hemorrhage after circumcision,
and (4) meningitis from injury and exposure. The grounds for
holding inquests are, usually, the suddenness of death, or the
fact that death had been caused by violence. In many cases it
was stated that the deceased had been found dead—often in bed.
The causes of death, as found by the verdicts of the respective
juries, may be classified as follows :—
Deaths caused by disease 94
Accidental deaths 49
Suicidal „ 12
Homicidal „ 1
156
The diseases may be classified thus :—
Diseases of the brain and nervous system 22
„ „ organs of respiration and
circulation 60
Diseases of the organs of digestion 5
Other diseases 7
The violent deaths were caused as follows :—
Accident: Suffocation (13 of infants under
one year) 16
Poison (Winslow's Soothing Syrup
1, and Tartar Emetic 1) 2